BOCA RATON, Fla. – San Diego was outscored by 11 points in the second half and surrendered 53.8% shooting in the final 20 minutes resulting in a 70-61 loss to St. Bonaventure in the Boca Raton Beach Classic on Sunday at the FAU Arena.
The Toreros (3-6) led by two at halftime, but the Bonnies (3-4) made 10 of their last 17 shots (59%), including each of their last three, to surpass USD. A 13-2 run by St. Bonaventure that started at the 15:37 mark and lasted seven minutes proved crucial in eventually deciding the game.
St. Bonaventure outscored USD in the paint, 34-18, and outrebounded it, 38-30. Osun Osunniyi grabbed a game-high 10 boards while contributing 15 points and six blocks. He was joined by three others in double-digit scoring, including Dominick Welch and his team-high 16 points.
Braun Hartfield led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting (3-of-5 on three-pointers). The redshirt junior scored 11 of his 17 in the first half and made all of his first five shots.
Trailing by as much as nine points with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining, the Toreros were able to pull within three on two occasions. The last was off a steal by
Marion Humphrey, which was fielded by
James Jean-Marie who then dunked it to make it 59-56 St. Bonaventure with 3:20 remaining.
The Bonnies responded, though, when they collected an offensive rebound and turned it into a field goal by Kyle Lofton to make it a five-point game, 61-56, with two-and-a-half minutes left. The shot made by Lofton ignited a stretch of three straight made shots made by St. Bonaventure – and 4-of-5 from the free throw line – to end the night.
In the first half, the Toreros trailed by as much as eight and were down 27-20 after the Bonnies started the game 10-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three. However, USD's defense forced St. Bonaventure to miss eight of its last 10 shots of the half while the offense finished 5-of-8 from the field starting at seven minutes left to help it pull ahead. Three straight made shots, with a three by
Finn Sullivan and jumpers by Jean-Marie and Hartfield, allowed the Toreros to pull ahead 35-31 with 1:30 remaining.
USD will now face UIC, which lost to FAU in the final seconds prior to the Toreros' game, at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET on Monday.
NOTES
USD is shooting 45.5% from the field (81-of-178) in the last three games.
The Toreros finished with a season-high 10 three-pointers made, their most in a game since the 2018-19 season finale at Memphis in the NIT (10). They had seven three-pointers in the first half (58.3%).
Braun Hartfield, who has 25 and 18 points in the last two games, is 17-of-29 (58.6%) from the field over the stretch. He is shooting 50% (6-of-12) from three-point range.
Joey Calcaterra had 11 points, his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season. He was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
James Jean-Marie led the Toreros in rebounds with six. He also had eight points (4-of-6 FG).
